Cathy's Art Diary

Fun outdoor exhibition in Granary Square of pictures highlighting the lives of ordinary women by artist Hanna Benihoud. The 16 works were mounted on benches around the square and each featured a picture of a woman juggling life with a caption. The pictures are based on conversations the artist had with various women and many of them make you smile with the truth of them. I’d love it if you could get cards of them to send to friends. My only moan is that because they are on benches and it was a lovely sunny day there, there were often people sitting on them so it was hard to see the image. Maybe the picture could be a bit higher. Closed 20 April 2025    

Disappointingly small exhibition at Queer Britain on the singer Jimmy Somerville and his role as an activist while in Bronski Beat. The show was well done and made good use of archive material and loans and gifts from Somerville. I only say disappointing as I’d have liked more and possibly to see the show move into the Communard years. It was however a good excuse to go to this newish   museum looking at the history of LBGT+ lives and activism. Great to see one of Duncan Grant’s erotic drawings included. I knew the space when it was previously the House of Illustration and it would be nice to see this museum expand into the large gallery beyond the shop in the future which might give more scope for exhibitions. Closed 25 May 2025

Interesting small exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery of works on paper by Austrian and German 20th century artists. The show explained these works and the links between artists well and went into some detail on the techniques. There was also a section on the cultural anxiety of around the changing role of women. I think my favourite work was a portrait of Reinhard Piper by Peter Trumm which mimicked the effect of wood grain. I was also interesting to see a printing block made by Kandinsky. Closed 22 June 2025  

Lovely exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery of works from the Oskar Reinhart Collection. This Swiss collection has a similar collecting policy to the Courtauld and Reinhart and Courtauld met in London in 1949. There was just a selection of work here with an emphasis on the Impressionists and Post- Impressionists but it included a beautiful earlier Goya of salmon steaks. I loved a picture of a wave by Courbet from 1870 which drew you into the pattern of the water as well as a Sisley of barges. My favourite though was a Manet of a café which had originally been part of a larger canvas which he reworked as two pictures the other being a well-known painting of a waitress now in The Met. Closed 25 May 2025 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard  

Delightful exhibition at the National Gallery showcasing Mexican artist Jose Maria Velasco. I hadn’t come across this 19th century artist before but having done a number of courses on landscape recently he fitted stylistically to a post Turner/Constable period and reminded me of Hudson River School work. I particularly liked his wide vistas which often combined new industry with the natural landscape. The show explained how he took a scientific interest in the world around him devising “Flora of the Valley of Mexico” , a short-lived publication for which he made precise illustrations and became a draftsman for the Museo Nacional in 1880 recording archaeological sites and geology. Closes 19 August 2025 Review Guardian

Excellent two week online course from ARTscapades looking at the Sienese artists of the early 14th century. Art historian Richard Stemp led us through the main four artists featured in the recent National Gallery exhibition, Duccio, Simoni Martini and Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti. In each case he guided us through their work both items in the show and ones which couldn’t travel. This was particularly useful as he could include frescos which added another dimension to the work. As ever Stemp brought a knowledgeable but wry eye to the subject bringing out the humanity of the images and yet placing them in the context of their time. This was a lovely way to revisit the exhibition which I had enjoyed and it led me to going again before it closed.